Football transfer tracker Summer 2011 Welcome to the latest edition of Grant Thornton’s football transfer tracker. This report considers expenditure and 2011 which saw record levels of fees income from the purchase and sale paid for players in the Winter window. of player registrations during the This edition of the football transfer Summer 2011 transfer window, tracker looks more closely at some analysing data from transfers involving interesting trends that have developed all clubs in the top three tiers of English in the English leagues’ transfer activity football,* as gathered by our Sports over the past year. Advisory Group. We also consider the rise in social The Summer 2011 transfer window media and it’s potential significance saw a marked increase in expenditure to governing bodies, football clubs, on players from the same period in players and advertisers. 2010. This follows on from January * Barclays Premier League, nPower Championship and nPower League 1 Football transfer tracker Football transfer tracker Overview of Summer 2011 transfer activity Figure 1 compares income and How and where has the Figure 1: Gross income and expenditure Figure 3a: Income and expenditure by club Figure 3b: Nationality of Premiership acquisitions expenditure from player transfers during Premier League spent its cash? Summer 2011 transfer window Summer 2010 transfer window the 2010 and 2011 Summer transfer Of particular interest in this most Summer 2011 transfer window Paid Received Net Paid Received Net windows. Figure 2 shows how transfer recent transfer window has been the Paid Rec Net £m £m £m £m £m £m £m £m £m fees paid and received by Premier increased level of fees received from Premiership (474.8) 297.8 (177.0) (356.2) 158.3 (197.9) League clubs have varied in recent player sales. Despite the growth of Arsenal (51.7) 67.2 15.5 Championship (41.3) 88.8 47.5 (28.2) 46.0 17.8 Summer transfer windows. expenditure in comparison to 2010, Aston Villa (16.3) 38.3 22.0 League 1 (2.3) 10.5 8.2 (1.5) 7.6 6.1 Whilst £518m of gross expenditure English league clubs actually spent less Blackburn (14.0) 22.8 8.8 Rovers (518.4) 397.1 (121.3) (385.9) 211.9 (174.0) represents an increase of approximately in net terms (payments for players less 34% over 2010, we would note that fees received from player sales). Bolton (7.0) 7.2 0.2 Wanderers it does not quite match the record This is a consequence of funds Figure 2: Gross transfer fees paid and recieved by English football’s Chelsea (66.6) 20.6 (46.0) top three leagues in Summer transfer windows Summer of 2008 which saw gross fees circulating between English teams, Everton 0.0 17.5 17.5 paid for players totalling a massive rather than going abroad. In 2010 £600m Fulham (16.3) 1.2 (15.1) 544 Premier League clubs spent £99m on 518 £544m. 508 Liverpool (58.0) 18.3 (39.7) £500m 495 491 The driving force behind players from English based clubs. In this increased expenditure has, 2011 this almost tripled to £276m. This Manchester City (80.0) 18.2 (61.8) 386 397 £400m Manchester (50.5) 9.3 (41.2) 2011 343 340 unsurprisingly, been the Premier League retention of wealth is hopefully 307 United £300m although the Championship also saw a positive sign for the financial health l English/Welsh £159.5m 34% significantly increased activity, both in of the English game as a whole. Newcastle (12.5) 10.2 (2.3) 196 212 l Foreign £315.3m 66% £200m terms of purchases and sales. Despite Transfers between English league Norwich (5.7) 0.0 (5.7) Total £474.8m this, it appears that the lower leagues clubs may well have been financed, Queens Park (11.0) 0.9 (10.1) £100m Rangers have not enjoyed a significant ‘trickle at least in part, by a conscious focus Stoke City (20.0) 0.6 (19.4) 0 down’ of funds, a concern identified in on purchasing ‘home-grown’ players. 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 the January 2011 edition of our football Figure 3b highlights a significant Sunderland (23.2) 22.3 (0.9) Gross fees paid Gross fees received Net transfer tracker. increase in investment in English Swansea City (10.0) 0.1 (9.9) (and Welsh) players. Tottenham (5.0) 28.1 23.1 Hotspur West Bromwich (6.5) 3.2 (3.3) Albion Wigan Athletic (8.5) 9.8 1.3 Wolverhampton (12.0) 2.0 (10.0) (474.8) 297.8 (177.0) 2010 l English/Welsh £56.1m 16% l Foreign £300.1m 84% Total £356.2m Football transfer tracker Football transfer tracker English football’s ‘trade deficit’ has decreased by approximately £46m from 2010. Similarly, Premiership clubs seem to be Figure 4: The Champions League race Figure 5: Imports and exports (transfers from and to clubs outside the English league system) placing increasing value upon young talent with expenditure on players Summer 2011 transfer window Summer 2010 transfer window Summer 2011 transfer window Summer 2010 transfer window under the age of 21 more than doubling Paid Received Net Paid Received Net Imports Exports Net in/(out) Imports Exports Net in/(out) £m £m £m £m £m £m from £60m in Summer 2010 to £130m £m £m £m £m £m £m in the 2011 Summer transfer window. Arsenal (51.7) 67.2 15.5 (16.2) 7.2 (9.0) Premiership 191.7 (67.0) 124.7 257.0 (77.4) 179.6 The big money transfers of Jordan Chelsea (66.6) 20.6 (46.0) (29.9) 14.2 (15.7) Championship 1.8 (0.0) 1.8 5.8 (14.4) (8.6) Henderson, Phil Jones and Alex Liverpool (58.0) 18.3 (39.7) (26.0) 26.7 0.7 League 1 0.2 (0.5) (0.3) 0.8 0.0 0.8 Oxlade-Chamberlain, who currently Manchester City (80.0) 18.2 (61.8) (125.7) 28.3 (97.4) 193.7 (67.5) 126.2 263.6 (91.8) 171.8 boast just one international cap between Manchester United (50.5) 9.3 (41.2) (23.7) 14.0 (9.7) them, are good examples of a positive Tottenham Hotspur (5.0) 28.1 23.1 (14.0) 0.8 (13.2) trend towards young, English talent. (311.8) 161.7 (150.1) (235.5) 91.2 (144.3) It would seem that clubs are beginning Other facts & figures to be influenced by the Premier For the second year running the average price League’s squad composition rules. albeit not to quite the same extent as paid for a midfielder has exceeded that for a However, it isn’t just young English the exceptional levels of Summer 2010. forward. David de Gea’s transfer to Manchester players but also those from abroad However, Arsenal and Tottenham United contributed to the average cost of a that are attracting interest. Romelu have bucked the trend with net gains goalkeeper exceeding that of a defender which Lukaku, David de Gea and Sebastian from player transfers of £16m and had not been the case in either of the previous Coates commanded combined fees of £23m respectively. Summer transfer windows. approximately £45m from Chelsea, It is notable that only one of these Manchester United and Liverpool. six giants of the English game had a net inflow from players in 2010. Not The Champions League race only did Liverpool fail to get into the It is inevitable that, in the wake of the top four they missed out on Europe recent frantic transfer activity, fans altogether. Whether this proves a and pundits will speculate on teams’ precedent for the season ahead, only respective prospects for the new season. time will tell. Figure 6: Average Premier League acquisition cost (excluding £nil fees) We have taken a look at the financial It is perhaps too early to conclude 10,000,000 indicators for the teams with aspirations whether the relatively conservative of qualifying for next season’s transfer activity of Arsenal and 8,000,000 Champions League. Tottenham is in anyway a reaction to Of the six clubs arguably most UEFA’s Financial Fair Play Regulations. 6,000,000 likely to secure a top four spot in the We will continue to monitor this in Premier League this season, Chelsea, future transfer windows. 4,000,000 Liverpool and Manchester United all significantly increased both their gross 2,000,000 and net expenditure on players during the Summer 2011 transfer window, 0 Goalkeeper Defender Midfielder Forward compared with the previous Summer. Manchester City also spent heavily, 2009 2010 2011 Football transfer tracker Football transfer tracker Social media – a need to monitor reputation The rise of online social media Aldershot striker, told his own fans side, unscrupulous individuals also Online social media has experienced ‘I hope you all die’. So although Twitter monitor social media conversations for increased popularity since the inception might present a fantastic opportunity any ‘nuggets’ of information that might of Facebook and MySpace in 2004; with for fans to interact directly with their have been inadvertently given away that Facebook now advertising 750 million idols, a darker side is also apparent. they might exploit for their own gain. active users. Social media sites initially However there are players using Clearly one obvious precaution evolved as places where ‘friends’ could social media positively. Rio Ferdinand regarding social media is not to Tweet keep in touch and share photographs, has over 1,500,000 followers on his or at least post anything you might later with the process of becoming a ‘friend’ Twitter profile and is therefore one of regret.